The car Tupac Shakur was shot in is back in the spotlight after the Las Vegas police announced plans to test firearms cartridges seized during a raid in connection with the murder of the rapper. But right now, it looks like it will never sell. The tragedy keeps scaring people off. The price, too.
This 1996 BMW 750iL is in a love-and-hate relationship with the used car market. It has been sitting there for years. People click to check on it out of curiosity. Then close the tab, click play on some Tupac Shakur music video, and move on. Who would want to buy a car in which someone got shot, regardless of the celebrity grade that person had?
The car has been listed for sale for years in Las Vegas for $1.75 million with a luxury dealer. It just sits there and returns to the spotlight when info emerges from the investigation of Tupac's death.
It was September 7, 1996, when Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight were riding in Las Vegas, in the black BMW 7 Series, a car leased to Death Row Records, the label the Knight owned, to provide proper transportation for the hip hop star. That night, Tupac was gunned down. Four bullets hit him. He died six days later at the age of 25.
Photo: Celebrity Cars
The car was a mess after the shooting. The salvager who fixed it probably had no idea what they were actually dealing with. A single bullet hole was left there on purpose: to remind everyone that this BMW had a macabre past.
It was sold several times to people who knew just as much. Absolutely nothing about where the BMW 7 Series came from. About six years ago, a local collector had an "aha" moment. He found out the background of the vehicle. A dealer put it up on sale for $1.5 million. Back then, it had 92,000 miles on the clock.
Celebrity Cars has been trying to sell it for the past five years with the exact same price: $1.75 million. They even attempted to find a buyer for it on TV series Pawn Stars in 2018. But it didn't work. Now it looks like it will never sell. Not for that kind of price, anyway.
But Ryan Hamilton, general manager of Celebrity Cars, says there has been a lot of international interest.
The sedan has a hidden weapon compartment on the side of the door. It is still there today. "We still haven't opened it," Hamilton says, trying to make things mysterious and to lure customers. It is sealed and features a mechanical release. That is probably where Suge Knight used to keep his gun. Today it is probably empty. The night of the attack, police found no weapon in there.
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